Woodford Green Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Woodford Green Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 29 November 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in May 2014.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. At the previous inspection, inspectors commented on pupils' good behaviour and the happy atmosphere in which pupils learn.

These continue to be strengths in the school as a result of the high expectations that all staff have of pupils ...and the good care they provide. You and your governors have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and the areas requiring further development. Together, you work quickly, taking action to bring about improvements when they are needed.

Governors challenge and support leaders at the school well. Governors scrutinise and understand the school's performance information, and its effective performance management systems. This ensures that all staff know that only really good teaching will do.

Since the last inspection, you and your governors have thought carefully about the future sustainability of a one-form-entry school. Different school-to-school partnerships have been trialled. Currently, you are working with a local outstanding teaching school alliance, which is providing opportunities for staff to share expertise and take part in assessment moderation activities.

The benefits of this partnership can be seen in pupils' work in their books and the raised expectations of what can be achieved. The areas identified during the last inspection are being addressed successfully. You and your governors prioritised the recruitment of an experienced, fully qualified early years leader.

Developments in early years are ensuring that, since the last inspection, the proportions of children achieving a good level of development remain above national averages. Pupils take pride in their work, handwriting is developing well across the school, and teachers are more adept at checking on pupils' understanding during lessons. However, there is still work to be done, particularly in improving writing outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in key stage 2, where the rates of progress, though improving, do not yet match those of other pupils nationally.

Safeguarding is effective. All staff take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. The most recent guidance on keeping children safe in education has been carefully considered by staff.

They are fully trained and know precisely what to do if they have any concerns about a child's well-being. Staff spoke informatively about their training and fortnightly discussions on a range of safeguarding risks, including female genital mutilation, extremism and radicalisation. A recent local authority audit of the school's safeguarding procedures, and governors' own in-school checks and visits, have further enhanced school systems.

Leaders and staff responsible for overseeing the checks relating to staff recruitment and for keeping children safe from harm ensure that safer recruitment procedures are followed meticulously, and the relevant checks are carried out thoroughly. The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Inspection findings ? Governors are proactive and deeply committed to the school's success.

They execute their duties conscientiously, matching their personal skills and expertise to check on the different aspects of the school's provision. Governors set high standards and are always seeking ways to improve their effectiveness as a governing body, commissioning recent reviews of both governance and the use of pupil premium funding. ? There have been a number of changes in teaching staff since the previous inspection.

Leaders, including recently appointed phase leaders, provide staff with clear expectations and guidance on assessment and planning. This is ensuring pupils' continued good progress from their starting points. Staff value the clear guidance.

They have a passionate commitment to making sure that every pupil receives personal and academic support to help them to do well. Leaders throughout the school make careful checks on the quality of teaching and how well pupils are learning. Teachers, particularly those at the start of their career, receive well-judged support and guidance on how to develop.

• Leaders have been successful in maintaining the good behaviour and attitudes of pupils noted at the previous inspection. During the inspection, pupils were observed behaving sensibly and considerately in classrooms and around the school. A calm and purposeful atmosphere permeates the school.

Pupils are rightly proud of their school and enjoy their learning. ? The culture of the school is summed up in your school motto: 'work, grow, play and succeed'. It is based firmly on everyone working together, and getting to know each pupil as an individual so they are supported to do their best.

Pupils display a good understanding of how teachers help them to learn, of what is right and wrong, and of how to keep themselves safe. ? Pupils were observed engaging in purposeful learning activities across the school. They talked enthusiastically about the books they have read and the class texts they have studied.

Your commitment to reviewing the reading materials available, and establishing a library, has benefited pupils' literacy skills considerably. ? Teachers have become skilled in their use of questioning and modelling writing based around interesting class texts. They use their knowledge well to identify more accurately how individuals are doing.

They are trying a new approach to target individuals and key groups to provide more focused support. This approach, first trialled by phase leaders, and now used throughout key stages 1 and 2, is particularly benefiting disadvantaged pupils. It is supporting the good progress seen in their writing since the start of term.

However, it is too soon to judge the impact of these new strategies. You and your staff recognise that there is still work to be done to ensure that any remaining differences between the outcomes for disadvantaged and other pupils nationally continue to diminish. ? Pupils' attendance has improved this term and is now just above the national average.

This is because leaders, well supported by staff who oversee attendance, have analysed absences carefully and taken an appropriately strong stance on unauthorised holidays during term time. This approach, along with close individual work with families and the local authority, has led to improved attendance rates for pupils. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the progress that disadvantaged pupils make in writing continues to improve, so that they make at least as much progress as other pupils nationally, and achieve outcomes in line with age-related expectations.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Waltham Forest. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Jean Thwaites Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, the vice-chair of the governing body and a group of staff from across the school.

I had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. I had a meeting with the officer for behaviour, attendance and children missing from education from the local authority who is working with the school, supporting ongoing improvements in pupils' attendance. I also met with staff responsible for overseeing the checks relating to staff recruitment and for keeping children safe from harm.

I met with a group of pupils, considered the 107 responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online parent questionnaire, and the 33 free-text responses. I observed pupils as they learned in classrooms. Examples of children's learning in their books were also looked at.

A number of documents were reviewed, including records of your checks to safeguard children, and records of children's progress and attainment. I scrutinised the school's plans for improvement, your evaluation of the school's effectiveness, and documents relating to the work of the governing body. The responses to Ofsted's online staff questionnaire were also considered.

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